Tour de France: Women’s cycling is suffering from growing pains

The Tour de France Femmes is a huge success. In terms of sport, it is more exciting than expected, even if a fall by defending champion Demi Vollering on the Thursday before the final weekend was one of the reasons for the thrill. But even before Vollering’s bad luck, the tour proved to be a crowd puller, at least along the route. The organizers estimated a total of 415,000 visitors to the Grand Depart in the Netherlands. This is a record for women’s cycling. 246,000 fans alone watched the first stage from Rotterdam to The Hague from the side of the road. The next day, almost 80,000 people crowded along the side of the route through Rotterdam for the time trial, which was just six kilometers long. That’s something to be proud of.

But with growth, worries also increase. The future of four so-called Continental teams, the second highest category in women’s cycling, is uncertain. Lifeplus Wahoo, the longest-running British women’s team, founded in 2015 under the name Drops Cycling, announced that it would be disbanding at the end of the year. The racing team cited constantly rising costs and outstanding installment payments from sponsors as reasons. The theft of all bikes at the Tour of Britain in June also plays a role. The other teams helped out in solidarity with their spare wheels. Overall, however, the financial ceiling is apparently too thin. The fact that the team did not receive a wildcard for the women’s Tour de France this year – despite finishing second in the 2023 junior ranking – was another setback.

A similar fate is emerging for the long-standing US racing team DNA Procycling. It was founded in 2012 and world champion Amber Neben, among others, drove for it. »The financial and time effort required to operate a Continental team in North America is becoming too great. “We have therefore decided to stop our activities,” said management. The Dutch junior racing team GT Krush Rebellease will also give up due to financial problems. Among other things, he introduced the current Olympic bronze medalist in Madison, Maike van der Duin, to the professional circuit; She now rides for the German team Canyon-SRAM.

And even for some teams that have made it into the select field of the Tour de France Femmes, the future looks bleak. At Saint-Michel-Mavic-Auber93, co-sponsor Mavic is withdrawing at the end of the season. “We are missing 500,000 euros to be able to continue,” complained former professional Pierre Roland, who is now involved with the women’s team that was founded in 1994.

One reason for the teams’ withdrawal is the UCI’s introduction of the Pro Continental level in women’s cycling, which was brought forward by one season. In the future, this will provide for a minimum salary of 20,000 euros as financial security for the drivers in the second row. On the World Tour it is 38,000 euros, and for the men’s teams it is 44,000 euros. As necessary as the step is for the livelihoods of female cyclists, the leap is likely to be too big for many smaller women’s teams. Finally, some of the supervisors will also have to be employed permanently in order to obtain the new license. “I think not too many teams will apply for this license because of these hurdles,” speculated Lotto Dstny boss Kurt van de Wouwer. The most important incentive for him to submit the application anyway is the better chance of getting a wildcard for the Tour de France Femmes as a Pro Continental team.

This year they were awarded according to a controversial UCI points system. Because the Uzbek racing team Tashkent Cycling Team scored points especially in unusually high-rated national races, its riders are currently taking part in the tour. On the first stage, three of them were picked up by the infamous broom cart because the peloton’s pace was too high for them. Mind you on flat stages. For the fifth stage, Janina Kuskowa was the only one in her team who even started. Kuskowa, who also stands out visually with her dyed blue hair, is now writing a very special heroine story as a soloist. Other teams, whose starting position was taken away by Tashkent Cycling, are now running out of lights precisely because they are running away from their sponsors without the increased media visibility during the tour.

The Cynisca case also illustrates how precarious the situation is in women’s cycling below the level of World Tour teams. Because the US racing team was missing a driver due to illness at the Argenta Classic in Belgium at the end of February and was therefore threatened with exclusion of the entire team, a mechanic was quickly put under a face mask and sent to register. A replacement driver could not be found due to the low staffing levels. The maneuver was discovered and Cynisca received a complete ban from racing for a month. The bright images of this Tour de France Femmes therefore only conceal the fragile state of the entire structure of women’s cycling.

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